Dragon of Storms

Chapter 8

As the sun set, Reyna and the two gypsies, Erena and Hoton, made their way towards Aleta. The dragon was safely hidden away in her saddlebag, taking a nap. His little snores went unheard by her company, but somehow managed to reach Reyna's ears. They were adorable, and made it very hard not to laugh out loud.

They were currently on one of the main roads through the forest, heading toward Aleta. Thick woods surrounded them, and the only light source was the stars and moon. Reyna sat comfortably on the front bench with Erena, who was driving, while Hoton, her husband, sat in the back. It had been difficult at first trying to talk to them, since she wasn't really a people person, but in the end she had managed to explain her situation. The two had cooed over her and even went as far as to help her bandage her leg and put some strange herbs on the wound. Through all the fussing, Reyna may have forgotten to mention her surname, but then again, they never asked.

"Do you want something to eat?" Erena asked, bringing Reyna out of thoughts.

"No, I'm okay," She was starving, but these people were already helping her too much. "Thank you, though." Erena looked a little disappointed, like she truly wanted to give her something to help. For a few minutes they sat in silence until Reyna finally spoke up, "I've heard that gypsies have the best stories," And apparently were the best storytellers too.

"Yes," Erena got a faraway look, "We've traveled the world and passed down our knowledge through the generations," Reyna could see the tears that were beginning to form. When Erena turned to look the princess in the eyes, she could make out years of adventure and wisdom in her green eyes. "The stories never truly die out, much like my kind." A soft smile graced her wrinkled features. Reyna guessed that once upon a time she would've been beautiful. Not that she wasn't beautiful now, but it was more the beauty of seeing a thousand sunsets, of living too many adventures to count, something Reyna could only hope to achieve someday.

"You say it like you're a whole different species." She mused aloud. Reyna hadn't meant to say that, but after talking to herself for a few days in the caves she had begun to lose her filter.

"In many ways, we are," Erena gazed up at the stars, as if telling them instead of her. "And many view us as," She stopped for a second to look for the right word, "other." Erena once again looked at her, but this time it seemed like she was peering into Reyna's soul. "We gypsies remind people of magic. We go where the wind takes us, we're never tied down, we're–"

"Free." Reyna interrupted.

A breathy laugh escaped Erena, "Yes, and it scares them for reasons not even I, an old woman, understand." She took a second to ponder it. Why were people afraid of the gypsies? Maybe it wasn't about fear at all, maybe it was about something else. Reyna mentally slapped herself when she realized she'd said it aloud. Her filter really was gone, and it was going to cause a lot of problems when she got to the castle.

"Maybe so," The wind almost blew Erena's voice away. "In my experience, people need something to hate, usually their reasons for it are being different or unusual." Reyna knew that to be true, she'd seen it many times. "To most, the gypsies were just that. And it's not just gypsies. Anybody with a disability or difference is naturally hated by society and made an outcast."

"But who's to blame for it?" She questioned. "All of its opinion based, so whose fault is it?"

"As important as blame is, the better question would be how do we fix it." They descended into silence. Someday Reyna would be queen, and the fact that she'd never really thought about it scared her. But maybe she could make a difference. Maybe, she could try to make this land truly good. For long minutes she thought about it, before an answer finally came to her.